00:00:00 --> 00:00:02 with Fred and I taking a little bit of a
00:00:02 --> 00:00:05 break we thought it'd be great to dig
00:00:05 --> 00:00:06 into the archives and see what sort of
00:00:07 --> 00:00:09 stories really captured the imaginations
00:00:09 --> 00:00:12 of people around the world things like
00:00:12 --> 00:00:14 opening up moon rocks 50 years after
00:00:14 --> 00:00:17 they were collected uh other things like
00:00:17 --> 00:00:20 the first photographs taken by James web
00:00:20 --> 00:00:23 or the first image of Sagittarius A star
00:00:23 --> 00:00:24 those are the kinds of things we've been
00:00:24 --> 00:00:27 talking about over the years so sit back
00:00:27 --> 00:00:30 relax and enjoy archival EP episodes of
00:00:30 --> 00:00:34 Space Nuts Space Nuts hi there thanks
00:00:34 --> 00:00:36 for joining us on another edition of
00:00:36 --> 00:00:39 Space Nuts my name is Andrew Dunley your
00:00:39 --> 00:00:42 host and today on the program we are
00:00:42 --> 00:00:44 going to be talking about the big news
00:00:44 --> 00:00:47 of the week probably the big news of the
00:00:47 --> 00:00:50 Year and that is the first image
00:00:50 --> 00:00:53 official image from the James web Space
00:00:53 --> 00:00:56 Telescope uh it's only been announced in
00:00:56 --> 00:00:58 the last hour or two since we started
00:00:58 --> 00:01:01 recording so uh it's fresh off the press
00:01:01 --> 00:01:03 or off the president's desk whichever
00:01:03 --> 00:01:06 way you want to look at it and Alex from
00:01:06 --> 00:01:08 New South Wales is apparently going to
00:01:08 --> 00:01:11 ask a question about the size of
00:01:11 --> 00:01:13 galaxies uh that's all to come on this
00:01:13 --> 00:01:16 edition of Space Nuts 15 seconds
00:01:17 --> 00:01:21 guidance is internal 10 9 ignition
00:01:21 --> 00:01:26 sequence start Space Nuts 5 4 3 2 1 2 3
00:01:26 --> 00:01:31 4 5 5 4 3 2 1 Space Nuts rep it feels
00:01:31 --> 00:01:34 good and joining us as always is
00:01:34 --> 00:01:36 Professor Fred what's an astronomer at
00:01:36 --> 00:01:39 large hello Fred how are you very well
00:01:39 --> 00:01:41 thanks very excited with all that's
00:01:41 --> 00:01:44 going on oh man it's just crazy town at
00:01:44 --> 00:01:47 the moment yeah it is the astronomy
00:01:47 --> 00:01:50 world is a Gog a Gog that's right that's
00:01:50 --> 00:01:53 not a word I get to use very
00:01:53 --> 00:01:56 often yeah go I like a Gog I think it's
00:01:56 --> 00:01:58 got a ring to
00:01:58 --> 00:02:01 it uh yeah that um we'll we'll get to
00:02:01 --> 00:02:03 that in a moment of course we have
00:02:03 --> 00:02:05 plenty to talk about and uh some
00:02:05 --> 00:02:07 audience questions as I as I
00:02:07 --> 00:02:11 mentioned uh and and you've got a studio
00:02:11 --> 00:02:13 guest Fred are you able to share this
00:02:13 --> 00:02:15 with our viewing audience if you're if
00:02:15 --> 00:02:17 you're watching us on YouTube You're get
00:02:17 --> 00:02:19 ready for a
00:02:19 --> 00:02:21 surprise let to let everybody know that
00:02:21 --> 00:02:25 he still exists there's muskat mus or
00:02:25 --> 00:02:27 family cat who normally doesn't uh come
00:02:27 --> 00:02:30 into the study here because it leaves
00:02:30 --> 00:02:32 copious quantities of hair wherever he
00:02:32 --> 00:02:34 goes but he's been asleep there in the
00:02:34 --> 00:02:37 chair all morning and all mostly
00:02:37 --> 00:02:40 afternoon so he's still here he's doing
00:02:40 --> 00:02:41 say much these days he's doing his hats
00:02:41 --> 00:02:44 proud because that's what cats do
00:02:44 --> 00:02:46 best
00:02:46 --> 00:02:50 yep it's good to have Muscat in the
00:02:50 --> 00:02:53 studio right let us get down to business
00:02:53 --> 00:02:57 and first on the agenda is this amazing
00:02:57 --> 00:02:59 image that has been delivered by the
00:02:59 --> 00:03:02 James web Space Telescope it's been a
00:03:02 --> 00:03:04 lot of anticipation about what the first
00:03:04 --> 00:03:07 image would be a lot of anticipation
00:03:07 --> 00:03:11 about how far reaching the James web
00:03:11 --> 00:03:14 Space Telescope will be in um its
00:03:14 --> 00:03:18 capacity to provide Deep Field imagery
00:03:18 --> 00:03:22 from far far back in the uh universe and
00:03:22 --> 00:03:25 it has not disappointed Fred not at all
00:03:25 --> 00:03:28 that's right so um what what we're
00:03:28 --> 00:03:30 seeing and and I would guess most of our
00:03:30 --> 00:03:32 listeners will have seen this because I
00:03:32 --> 00:03:34 think it's going to be the cover picture
00:03:34 --> 00:03:38 on the on the podcast for today see uh
00:03:38 --> 00:03:41 really is a beautiful image of a cluster
00:03:41 --> 00:03:45 of galaxies uh which as always has a
00:03:45 --> 00:03:50 gobble de name it is smacs
00:03:50 --> 00:03:54 0723 um uh
00:03:54 --> 00:03:56 smac stands for streaming motions in
00:03:57 --> 00:04:00 Abel clusters okay uh and and Abel
00:04:00 --> 00:04:02 clusters are clusters that were
00:04:02 --> 00:04:04 cataloged by George Abel who I knew when
00:04:04 --> 00:04:06 he worked in Edinburgh for a while uh so
00:04:06 --> 00:04:09 cluster is a cluster of galaxies um but
00:04:09 --> 00:04:11 of course like so many of these giant
00:04:11 --> 00:04:14 clusters its mass acts as a
00:04:14 --> 00:04:17 gravitational lens uh magnifying and
00:04:17 --> 00:04:19 distorting the images of galaxies in the
00:04:19 --> 00:04:22 far distance behind it um and so this
00:04:22 --> 00:04:26 particular cluster um shows up uh
00:04:26 --> 00:04:29 beautifully in you know the the kind of
00:04:29 --> 00:04:31 colors that you would expect so as you
00:04:31 --> 00:04:32 know the James web telescope is an
00:04:32 --> 00:04:36 infrared telescope excuse me so uh it
00:04:36 --> 00:04:38 can look at the image in various
00:04:38 --> 00:04:41 infrared wave bands and what you can do
00:04:41 --> 00:04:43 is sort of equate those to visible light
00:04:43 --> 00:04:47 wave bands so that things uh that uh are
00:04:47 --> 00:04:50 in the far infrared show up as red in
00:04:50 --> 00:04:53 the visible uh things that are you know
00:04:53 --> 00:04:56 in the mid infrared show up as as as
00:04:56 --> 00:04:58 white things that are in the near
00:04:58 --> 00:05:00 infrared in other words not much reder
00:05:00 --> 00:05:01 than red they'll show up probably as
00:05:01 --> 00:05:03 blue I'm not quite sure how they did the
00:05:03 --> 00:05:05 color balancing in this image but
00:05:05 --> 00:05:06 they've got it absolutely right because
00:05:06 --> 00:05:09 the nearby stars are blue um the
00:05:09 --> 00:05:11 relatively nearby cluster of galaxies is
00:05:12 --> 00:05:14 white and the distant ones as you might
00:05:14 --> 00:05:15 expect it because they're highly red
00:05:15 --> 00:05:19 shifted they look orange in color um and
00:05:19 --> 00:05:21 again distorted so we're looking back
00:05:21 --> 00:05:25 here um you know uh it will be well the
00:05:25 --> 00:05:28 the nearby cluster is 4.6 billion light
00:05:28 --> 00:05:30 years away uh the one Beyond it could be
00:05:30 --> 00:05:32 double that um I haven't seen the
00:05:32 --> 00:05:34 results of that but it's it's a long way
00:05:34 --> 00:05:38 off uh and what I think is most telling
00:05:38 --> 00:05:41 about this image so this is um being
00:05:41 --> 00:05:44 called web's first Deep Field image um
00:05:44 --> 00:05:46 and you probably remember because we've
00:05:46 --> 00:05:48 talked about it before the Hubble
00:05:48 --> 00:05:50 telescope produced a number of Deep
00:05:50 --> 00:05:53 Field images deep being how how far into
00:05:53 --> 00:05:55 the universe you're looking how far into
00:05:55 --> 00:05:58 the past you're looking um and there was
00:05:58 --> 00:06:02 the the the Deep Field the Hubble I
00:06:02 --> 00:06:04 can't remember what the the ultra Deep
00:06:04 --> 00:06:05 Field I think was the last one there
00:06:05 --> 00:06:08 were a number in between as well um but
00:06:08 --> 00:06:11 they took weeks of time on the Hubble
00:06:11 --> 00:06:14 Space Telescope to build up the imagery
00:06:14 --> 00:06:16 I remember the first one they they chose
00:06:16 --> 00:06:18 the part of Sky because there was
00:06:18 --> 00:06:21 nothing visible in it and so then they
00:06:21 --> 00:06:23 they observed it for for several nights
00:06:23 --> 00:06:26 or several days um because it doesn't
00:06:26 --> 00:06:29 matter in a Space Telescope um and
00:06:29 --> 00:06:32 finally got these deep Fields so but it
00:06:32 --> 00:06:35 took up to weeks to get them the James
00:06:35 --> 00:06:40 web first Deep Field was obtained in 12
00:06:40 --> 00:06:44 hours so that's telling you uh that you
00:06:44 --> 00:06:49 know we we now have a tool that can beat
00:06:49 --> 00:06:51 the pants off the Hubble Space Telescope
00:06:51 --> 00:06:54 and that is no small achievement and of
00:06:54 --> 00:06:55 course that comes about because it's a
00:06:55 --> 00:06:59 much bigger telescope uh the Hubble Is
00:06:59 --> 00:07:04 2.3 meter telescope uh this is a 6.5
00:07:04 --> 00:07:05 meter
00:07:05 --> 00:07:08 telescope yeah it's uh and and and
00:07:08 --> 00:07:11 that's really part of the reason why
00:07:11 --> 00:07:14 people have become so um excited in
00:07:14 --> 00:07:16 anticipation of what it is capable of
00:07:16 --> 00:07:19 and it's uh it's already showing its
00:07:19 --> 00:07:22 true colors buom uh you know the part
00:07:22 --> 00:07:24 that really blew my mind when I looked
00:07:24 --> 00:07:25 at the image and read the description
00:07:25 --> 00:07:27 from NASA I'm sure you'll know what I'm
00:07:27 --> 00:07:30 talking about here uh Master says this
00:07:30 --> 00:07:32 image covers a patch of Sky
00:07:32 --> 00:07:34 approximately the size of a grain of
00:07:34 --> 00:07:37 sand held at arms length by someone on
00:07:37 --> 00:07:39 the ground that's right and reveals
00:07:39 --> 00:07:42 thousands of galaxies in a tiny sliver
00:07:42 --> 00:07:44 of vast
00:07:44 --> 00:07:47 space it I know we always talk about the
00:07:47 --> 00:07:49 vastness of the universe but here we are
00:07:49 --> 00:07:52 looking at a distance of maybe 4 to 8
00:07:52 --> 00:07:55 billion light years and we're looking at
00:07:55 --> 00:07:58 something that uh only takes up space
00:07:58 --> 00:08:00 the size of the grain of sand held it
00:08:00 --> 00:08:05 arms length I mean my word it just it it
00:08:05 --> 00:08:08 is or inspiring it really is yeah it
00:08:08 --> 00:08:10 blew the president away as well I don't
00:08:10 --> 00:08:12 know whether you saw the uh the NASA
00:08:12 --> 00:08:14 broadcast when this was released but
00:08:14 --> 00:08:17 President Biden uh you could tell he was
00:08:17 --> 00:08:19 absolutely captivated by all this it's
00:08:19 --> 00:08:24 fantastic to see uh such enthusiasm um
00:08:24 --> 00:08:26 and of course Andrew this is only the
00:08:26 --> 00:08:29 first of many by the time uh our listen
00:08:29 --> 00:08:32 are watching and listening to this if
00:08:32 --> 00:08:35 they watch on YouTube uh we expect uh
00:08:35 --> 00:08:38 another tranch of images to have been
00:08:38 --> 00:08:42 released um the kinds of things that
00:08:42 --> 00:08:43 we're expecting to see in fact I think
00:08:43 --> 00:08:46 we've got a fairly um a fairly good list
00:08:46 --> 00:08:49 here uh we'll see wasp
00:08:49 --> 00:08:52 96b now that is a planet that's an extra
00:08:52 --> 00:08:55 Solar Planet wasp 96b so it's going to
00:08:55 --> 00:08:58 be really interesting to see uh how that
00:08:58 --> 00:09:00 shows up we're going to see the southern
00:09:00 --> 00:09:02 Ring Nebula uh that's a planetary nebula
00:09:02 --> 00:09:04 we'll see no doubt a lot of detail in
00:09:04 --> 00:09:06 that we're going to see a cluster of
00:09:06 --> 00:09:09 galaxies a very compact uh cluster of
00:09:09 --> 00:09:11 galaxies called Stefan's quintet very
00:09:11 --> 00:09:14 well-known very beloved of Galactic uh
00:09:14 --> 00:09:16 astronomers or extra Galactic
00:09:16 --> 00:09:18 astronomers people who study the The
00:09:18 --> 00:09:20 Wider Universe these galaxies are
00:09:20 --> 00:09:21 physically close together and all
00:09:21 --> 00:09:23 interacting with one another and of
00:09:23 --> 00:09:26 course uh an object in our deep southern
00:09:26 --> 00:09:28 Sky the Karina nebula the EA Karina
00:09:28 --> 00:09:31 nebula one of the most active regions uh
00:09:31 --> 00:09:33 of space in our local neighborhood so it
00:09:33 --> 00:09:35 be really interesting to see what's
00:09:35 --> 00:09:38 going on in that too yes yes and and who
00:09:38 --> 00:09:41 knows we we might actually be focusing
00:09:41 --> 00:09:44 our cameras on alien civilizations out
00:09:44 --> 00:09:46 there somewhere and we don't even know
00:09:46 --> 00:09:48 it we don't that Dove Tales beautifully
00:09:48 --> 00:09:52 into our next story so all I'll say just
00:09:52 --> 00:09:54 to finish up with the James wor Space
00:09:54 --> 00:09:57 Telescope is watch this space as we as
00:09:57 --> 00:09:59 we've said uh because there's some
00:09:59 --> 00:10:02 exciting things to come it's uh really I
00:10:02 --> 00:10:04 I think it's fantastic that they've done
00:10:04 --> 00:10:06 so well that it got in place yes it's
00:10:06 --> 00:10:07 had a couple of problems that they've
00:10:07 --> 00:10:10 managed to overcome without any adverse
00:10:10 --> 00:10:13 effect and now it's ready to do its job
00:10:13 --> 00:10:15 and uh yeah who knows what we're going
00:10:15 --> 00:10:18 to learn Fred who knows absolutely
00:10:19 --> 00:10:21 fabulous stuff you're listening to and
00:10:22 --> 00:10:24 in some places watching Space Nuts with
00:10:24 --> 00:10:29 Andrew Dunley and Professor Fred Watson
00:10:29 --> 00:10:32 and I feel fine Space Nuts uh now we'll
00:10:32 --> 00:10:37 go to uh Alex who's from a lovely uh
00:10:37 --> 00:10:38 it's it's actually a sorted nasty
00:10:39 --> 00:10:42 horrible little place called bellingen
00:10:42 --> 00:10:45 and you said come on in New South Wales
00:10:45 --> 00:10:47 it's actually a a glorious part of the
00:10:47 --> 00:10:50 world it's still yeah yeah Alex is
00:10:50 --> 00:10:52 asking about galaxies this is really
00:10:52 --> 00:10:55 good too hi Fred and Andrew it's Alex
00:10:55 --> 00:10:57 from bellingen congratulations on your
00:10:57 --> 00:11:00 300 shows May the be many more okay
00:11:00 --> 00:11:03 straight into my question it's about the
00:11:03 --> 00:11:06 apparent size of galaxies it's common
00:11:06 --> 00:11:07 understanding that the further away an
00:11:07 --> 00:11:10 object is the smaller it appears to our
00:11:10 --> 00:11:12 eyes I guess you could say the object's
00:11:12 --> 00:11:15 angular size reduces with distance just
00:11:15 --> 00:11:17 look down a long straight road lined
00:11:17 --> 00:11:20 with power poles and the poles appear
00:11:20 --> 00:11:22 smaller the further away they are but
00:11:22 --> 00:11:24 I've heard this seemingly obvious
00:11:24 --> 00:11:26 relationship between distance and
00:11:26 --> 00:11:30 apparent size does not apply to Galaxy
00:11:30 --> 00:11:32 well it does to a point but at some
00:11:32 --> 00:11:34 distance away from us the apparent size
00:11:34 --> 00:11:37 of galaxies stops getting smaller and
00:11:37 --> 00:11:39 then begins to increase the further from
00:11:39 --> 00:11:42 us they are have I heard that right and
00:11:42 --> 00:11:45 if so how the heck does that work thanks
00:11:45 --> 00:11:47 and keep up the good work it's all the
00:11:47 --> 00:11:50 best oh boy you tell us Alex um that
00:11:50 --> 00:11:53 sounds bizarre Fred it does doesn't it
00:11:53 --> 00:11:56 it's an extraordinary thing but it is
00:11:56 --> 00:12:00 actually true um and
00:12:00 --> 00:12:02 it's it's a real
00:12:02 --> 00:12:07 illustration of the fact that um we live
00:12:07 --> 00:12:11 in a universe that has peculiar
00:12:11 --> 00:12:16 properties uh and it's basically uh the
00:12:16 --> 00:12:18 fact that we live in an expanding
00:12:18 --> 00:12:20 universe that causes this phenomenon to
00:12:20 --> 00:12:24 happen uh because uh if you go through
00:12:24 --> 00:12:26 the mathematics and actually there's
00:12:26 --> 00:12:27 There Are Places on the web where you
00:12:27 --> 00:12:29 can find some nice diagrams that show
00:12:29 --> 00:12:33 how this works uh the the further away
00:12:33 --> 00:12:36 you look um you get to a certain point
00:12:36 --> 00:12:38 Beyond which things don't look any
00:12:38 --> 00:12:42 smaller uh because uh you're you because
00:12:42 --> 00:12:45 the universe is expanding that's the the
00:12:45 --> 00:12:48 best way to put it um
00:12:48 --> 00:12:53 so so if you imagine
00:12:53 --> 00:12:55 um think about you know our and
00:12:55 --> 00:12:58 Andromeda galaxy our nearest neighbor
00:12:58 --> 00:13:01 which is alog together something like 2°
00:13:01 --> 00:13:05 on the sky uh at its distance of about 2
00:13:05 --> 00:13:08 and a half million light years away so
00:13:08 --> 00:13:12 if you started uh you we we envisage
00:13:12 --> 00:13:13 Andromeda we know what it's like we've
00:13:13 --> 00:13:16 all seen pictures of the androma Galaxy
00:13:16 --> 00:13:19 uh beautiful uh elongated spiral because
00:13:19 --> 00:13:22 it's tilted over towards us um 2 and a
00:13:22 --> 00:13:25 half million light years away if you
00:13:26 --> 00:13:28 took that Galaxy further and further
00:13:28 --> 00:13:29 away of course
00:13:29 --> 00:13:31 it would start looking smaller and
00:13:32 --> 00:13:33 smaller because it's getting further
00:13:33 --> 00:13:36 away the laws of physics work pretty
00:13:36 --> 00:13:39 normally over small distances but once
00:13:39 --> 00:13:45 she gets to uh a distance which is uh
00:13:46 --> 00:13:49 actually it it's the distance varies
00:13:49 --> 00:13:51 because you it depends on your model of
00:13:51 --> 00:13:54 the universe uh but I can give you the
00:13:54 --> 00:13:56 technical answer it's at a red shift of
00:13:56 --> 00:13:57 about
00:13:57 --> 00:14:00 1.5 uh and that's sort of a distance
00:14:00 --> 00:14:02 that's measured in billions of light
00:14:02 --> 00:14:03 years we probably talking about
00:14:03 --> 00:14:05 something like eight or nine billion
00:14:05 --> 00:14:07 light years once it gets to that
00:14:07 --> 00:14:10 distance it hits a minimum size which is
00:14:10 --> 00:14:12 about a thousandth of a degree remember
00:14:13 --> 00:14:15 it's it's two degrees at its present
00:14:15 --> 00:14:17 distance but it gets down to this
00:14:17 --> 00:14:21 1th of a degree Mark and and even
00:14:21 --> 00:14:23 though then you know keep on moving it
00:14:23 --> 00:14:26 away it doesn't actually get any smaller
00:14:26 --> 00:14:28 in fact it starts getting a bit bigger
00:14:28 --> 00:14:30 and that is totally bizarre but it's
00:14:30 --> 00:14:33 just about the way light behaves in an
00:14:33 --> 00:14:34 expanding
00:14:34 --> 00:14:37 Universe wow and and is this something
00:14:37 --> 00:14:39 that would be able to be demonstrated by
00:14:40 --> 00:14:42 the James web space exactly so I think
00:14:42 --> 00:14:45 we'll see you know we'll see physical
00:14:45 --> 00:14:47 proof of this happening with the gen's
00:14:47 --> 00:14:49 web Space Telescope when they they find
00:14:49 --> 00:14:51 that there are galaxies that don't seem
00:14:51 --> 00:14:53 to get any smaller even though you
00:14:53 --> 00:14:55 looking at them further and further away
00:14:55 --> 00:14:56 quite
00:14:56 --> 00:14:59 incredible that's um the same effect
00:14:59 --> 00:15:01 I have when I hit a golf ball it doesn't
00:15:01 --> 00:15:04 get smaller or smaller it stays about
00:15:04 --> 00:15:08 the same size yes suggests I'm not
00:15:08 --> 00:15:10 really hitting it very far at
00:15:10 --> 00:15:13 all never mind if you hit it it start
00:15:13 --> 00:15:14 getting
00:15:14 --> 00:15:18 bigger it's coming back to you yes
00:15:18 --> 00:15:20 absolutely uh thanks Alex and hope all
00:15:20 --> 00:15:22 is well in Belling I know you've been
00:15:22 --> 00:15:25 getting rained upon by cats and dogs and
00:15:25 --> 00:15:27 camels and who knows what else in recent
00:15:27 --> 00:15:28 times so hopefully it'll start to dry
00:15:28 --> 00:15:29 out
00:15:29 --> 00:15:31 [Music]
00:15:31 --> 00:15:34 soon Space Nuts hello again space
00:15:34 --> 00:15:36 Nutters this is Anna from astronomy
00:15:36 --> 00:15:38 daily the podcast stopping by again with
00:15:38 --> 00:15:40 a couple of the important stories we've
00:15:40 --> 00:15:42 been following over the past week
00:15:42 --> 00:15:44 astronomers may have finally cracked a
00:15:44 --> 00:15:46 longstanding cosmic mystery about one of
00:15:46 --> 00:15:49 our Galaxy's most intriguing features
00:15:49 --> 00:15:52 the gd1 Stellar stream this ribbon-like
00:15:52 --> 00:15:54 structure of stars which stretches
00:15:54 --> 00:15:56 across our Galaxy's Halo has puzzled
00:15:56 --> 00:15:58 scientists for years due to its unusual
00:15:58 --> 00:16:00 pattern of gaps and Spurs that seem to
00:16:01 --> 00:16:02 defy conventional
00:16:02 --> 00:16:04 explanations a team led by researchers
00:16:04 --> 00:16:06 at the University of California
00:16:06 --> 00:16:08 Riverside has proposed an exciting
00:16:08 --> 00:16:10 solution involving dark matter but not
00:16:10 --> 00:16:12 just any dark matter their research
00:16:12 --> 00:16:14 suggests these distinctive features were
00:16:14 --> 00:16:16 created by what's called a
00:16:16 --> 00:16:19 self-interacting dark matter sub Halo a
00:16:19 --> 00:16:21 dense concentration of dark matter that
00:16:21 --> 00:16:23 behaves differently than the traditional
00:16:23 --> 00:16:25 cold Dark Matter model we're familiar
00:16:25 --> 00:16:27 with what makes this discovery
00:16:27 --> 00:16:29 particularly fascinating is that the
00:16:29 --> 00:16:31 density needed to create these unusual
00:16:32 --> 00:16:35 patterns in gd1 is much higher than what
00:16:35 --> 00:16:37 we'd expect from conventional Dark
00:16:37 --> 00:16:39 Matter theories the research team found
00:16:39 --> 00:16:41 that only a collapsing subh of
00:16:41 --> 00:16:43 self-interacting Dark Matter could
00:16:43 --> 00:16:45 achieve the necessary density to produce
00:16:45 --> 00:16:48 these distinctive features we observe
00:16:48 --> 00:16:50 this isn't just about solving one
00:16:50 --> 00:16:52 mysterious structure in our galaxy if
00:16:53 --> 00:16:54 confirmed these findings could
00:16:54 --> 00:16:56 fundamentally change our understanding
00:16:56 --> 00:16:59 of Dark Matter itself remember Dark
00:16:59 --> 00:17:01 Matter makes up about 85% of all matter
00:17:01 --> 00:17:04 in the universe yet we still know
00:17:04 --> 00:17:06 remarkably little about its true nature
00:17:06 --> 00:17:08 This research suggests that dark matter
00:17:08 --> 00:17:10 particles might interact with each other
00:17:10 --> 00:17:12 through a new kind of force rather than
00:17:12 --> 00:17:14 being completely invisible to one
00:17:14 --> 00:17:17 another as previously thought the team
00:17:17 --> 00:17:19 used sophisticated computer simulations
00:17:19 --> 00:17:21 to model how this self-interacting dark
00:17:21 --> 00:17:23 matter would behave and the results
00:17:23 --> 00:17:25 matched perfectly with the observed
00:17:25 --> 00:17:28 features in the gd1 Stream it's like
00:17:28 --> 00:17:30 finding the piece of a puzzle that's
00:17:30 --> 00:17:32 been sitting on the table for years
00:17:32 --> 00:17:34 suddenly revealing a whole new picture
00:17:34 --> 00:17:36 of how our galaxy Works what's
00:17:36 --> 00:17:38 particularly exciting about this
00:17:38 --> 00:17:40 discovery is that it opens up new ways
00:17:40 --> 00:17:43 to study dark matter by looking at
00:17:43 --> 00:17:45 Stellar streams like gd1 we might be
00:17:45 --> 00:17:47 able to better understand not just where
00:17:47 --> 00:17:50 dark matter is but how it behaves and
00:17:50 --> 00:17:52 interacts with itself something that
00:17:52 --> 00:17:54 could revolutionize our understanding of
00:17:54 --> 00:17:56 the universe's fundamental
00:17:57 --> 00:17:59 structure next a little mystery from
00:17:59 --> 00:18:01 China that has set the space Community
00:18:01 --> 00:18:04 buzzing in a remarkable display of
00:18:04 --> 00:18:06 technological advancement China's space
00:18:06 --> 00:18:08 program has taken a significant Leap
00:18:08 --> 00:18:10 Forward conducting tests of five
00:18:10 --> 00:18:12 different rocket engines all in a single
00:18:12 --> 00:18:14 day the China Aerospace Science and
00:18:14 --> 00:18:17 Technology Corporation or Cass C carried
00:18:17 --> 00:18:18 out these tests at two separate
00:18:19 --> 00:18:21 locations Beijing and lwan county in
00:18:21 --> 00:18:24 heay Province one of the most notable
00:18:24 --> 00:18:26 tests involved a new hydrogen oxygen
00:18:26 --> 00:18:29 engine designed for upper stage Rockets
00:18:29 --> 00:18:31 during its 100 second test firing
00:18:31 --> 00:18:33 Engineers gathered crucial performance
00:18:33 --> 00:18:35 data that could pave the way for future
00:18:35 --> 00:18:37 missions this wasn't just any routine
00:18:37 --> 00:18:40 test it's believed to be connected to
00:18:40 --> 00:18:42 China's ambitious plans for crude lunar
00:18:42 --> 00:18:44 missions specifically their Long March
00:18:44 --> 00:18:47 10th launcher program but that's not all
00:18:47 --> 00:18:49 that was tested that day in Beijing
00:18:49 --> 00:18:51 Engineers put three different engines
00:18:51 --> 00:18:54 through their Paces a main engine an
00:18:54 --> 00:18:56 upper stage engine and a reaction and
00:18:56 --> 00:18:58 Orbit Control engine while spefic
00:18:58 --> 00:19:00 specific details about which Rockets
00:19:00 --> 00:19:02 these engines are destined for remain
00:19:02 --> 00:19:04 Under Wraps it's clear that China is
00:19:04 --> 00:19:07 developing multiple launch capabilities
00:19:07 --> 00:19:10 simultaneously perhaps most intriguingly
00:19:10 --> 00:19:12 the testing day included a methane
00:19:12 --> 00:19:14 liquid oxygen engine at the lwan
00:19:14 --> 00:19:17 facility this type of engine represents
00:19:17 --> 00:19:19 The Cutting Edge of Rocket technology
00:19:19 --> 00:19:21 with several Chinese companies already
00:19:21 --> 00:19:23 developing similar systems it's worth
00:19:23 --> 00:19:25 noting that Cassie is working on a
00:19:25 --> 00:19:27 particularly powerful version for their
00:19:27 --> 00:19:30 Long March 9th Mega rocket project these
00:19:30 --> 00:19:32 tests signal China's commitment to
00:19:32 --> 00:19:34 developing a diverse range of Rocket
00:19:34 --> 00:19:37 Technologies from deep space exploration
00:19:37 --> 00:19:39 vehicles to heavy lift Rockets according
00:19:39 --> 00:19:41 to KSC Engineers this is just the
00:19:41 --> 00:19:43 beginning they're planning to conduct
00:19:43 --> 00:19:45 even more research and testing of
00:19:45 --> 00:19:47 various engine types for China's major
00:19:47 --> 00:19:49 space projects suggesting we might see
00:19:49 --> 00:19:51 several new Chinese Rockets debut in the
00:19:51 --> 00:19:54 coming year this coordinated testing
00:19:54 --> 00:19:56 effort demonstrates China's growing
00:19:56 --> 00:19:58 capabilities in space technology and
00:19:58 --> 00:20:00 their determination to become a major
00:20:00 --> 00:20:02 player in space exploration with these
00:20:02 --> 00:20:04 successful tests they're laying the
00:20:04 --> 00:20:06 groundwork for increasingly ambitious
00:20:06 --> 00:20:09 missions from lunar exploration to
00:20:09 --> 00:20:11 potential Mars voyages and that's it
00:20:11 --> 00:20:14 from me for this episode of Space Nuts
00:20:14 --> 00:20:16 I'm Anna don't forget to visit astronomy
00:20:16 --> 00:20:18 daily. for your daily fix of space and
00:20:19 --> 00:20:21 astronomy news updates we're constantly
00:20:21 --> 00:20:23 updating the site with the latest
00:20:23 --> 00:20:25 discoveries Mission updates and Cosmic
00:20:25 --> 00:20:27 wonders until our next adventure through
00:20:27 --> 00:20:29 the cosmos keep looking up and stay
00:20:29 --> 00:20:30 curious about the Mysteries that
00:20:31 --> 00:20:33 surround us in space Space Nuts you'll
00:20:33 --> 00:20:36 be listening to the Space Nuts
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00:20:40 --> 00:20:42 Spotify iHeart radio or your favorite
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00:20:48 --> 00:20:50 another quality podcast production from
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